WORD 

Born in Lisboa, Portugal, on the 1st of July 1964, I only started playing drumset in 1983.
Between 1988 and 1990 I studied at the Hot Clube de Portugal Jazz School and at the Academia de Amadores de Música, in Lisboa.
In 1992 was admitted at the Drummers Collective School of Music in N.Y. where I studied with a deluxe faculty and achieved the "Certificate of Completion".
I also attended seminars with Alan Dawson, David Liebman, Rufus Reid, John Abercrombie, Reggie Workman, Clark Terry, Barney Kessel, Hal Garper, Bobby Watson, Terence Blanchard, Karl Berger and Kenny Washington and workshops with Peter Erskine, Rod Morgenstein, Dom Famularo, Mike Mangini and tabla master Buphinder Singh Chaggar.

Professional musician since '89, recorded and performed with some of Portugal’s top artists and musicians in folk, pop, funk, soul, fusion, blues, rock, jazz, world and percussion groups, appearing on over 40 CD’s, DVD’s and film soundtracks and numerous tv and radio programs in several countries.

Played in worldwide famous venues and festivals like the MIDEM in Miami Beach, the EFWMF in Berlin, the Zappanale in Bad Doberan, in The Performing Arts Center in New Jersey, the Blues Sur Seine Festival, the Breda Jazz Festival, all over Portugal and also around France, Italy, Spain, Greece, Germany, Belgium, The Netherlands, Brazil, China, England, Norway, U.S.A. and Canada.

Collaborated with dancers and choreographers including live performances with the contemporary dance company CêDêCê, the Ballet Gulbenkian and Itzik Galili, Paulo Ribeiro's tribute to José Limón, workshops with Keren Levi in the CODA International Dance Festival of Oslo, guest percussionist in the 1st International Salsa Dance Festival in Portugal and performances and classes with belly-dancer Margrethe Glambek.

With composer, arranger and producer Eduardo Paes Mamede won the 1st EEC Song Festival in 1992 in Salonica, Greece.

Composed the soundtrack for a number of informative and educational DVD's directed by Maarten Roos for the European Space Agency and the European Planetology Network.

Member of the board of the musicians union in Portugal in 2004.

I've been a drumset teacher for sixteen years ans co-founded the first and biggest youth percussion orchestra in Portugal, Tocá Rufar, and taught the founders of another, Tocándar. 

I moved to Oslo, Norway, in the end of 2004 and began working with the brazilian funk rock band Antropófagos, brazilian singer/songwriter Claudio Latini, balkan band Rakija and more recently with Maghreb Funk, pop rock band Pausefiskene and brazilian band Zanza, besides having performed occasionaly with  the Nordstrand Janitsjarkorps. I also continue touring internationaly with Charlie & The Bluescats from Portugal.

I repair, alter and refinish acoustic drumsets.
 
I speak portuguese, english and french fluently, also manage well in spanish, norwegian and italian.